Are You Full or Hungry?

Have you ever been in a church service where you thought the pastor was as dry as could be and you got nothing out of the sermon at all, and then you look around and you see people who have been very moved by the sermon or you hear individuals talking about what a great sermon?... I remember hearing people say, "That preacher is on fire" while hearing others say they got nothing out of the sermon. But I have been blessed to learn a couple of things:

1). If you are going to church expecting to GET something, you are going with the wrong attitude. You are supposed to be going to church to GIVE: Give worship, Give praise and Give service to the Lord.

2). Proverbs 27:7 says: The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Are you hungering and thirsting after righteousness sake, because if you are even the hardest messages are going to be sweet to you.

I received an email yesterday that I thought put a very practical spin on this-

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone to church for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor.
It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher.

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work, If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment,
I would be spiritually dead today!"

I pray that we will all be spiritually nourished and that we will be thankful for what the Lord has blessed us with in our churches.

It Was A Primitive Baptist Weekend!

NOTE: Some info on this blog may be duplicated as there were many of us bloggers all present at the same meeting~


Friday night was the beginning of a wonderful weekend. While Satan tried his best to hinder with power failures and a/c problems, the Lord still blessed (and in the meantime, reminded us all to be thankful for the luxuries we take for granted).



When the power went out just before the preaching service, several brothers offered Brother Tim McCool light... to which I commented to Jim... "Don't they know they can't give him light, only the Lord can?" :) (I crack myself up)


Brother Tim preached a wonderful sermon about burdens (good and bad) and how if we cast our burdens upon the Lord he will sustain us. He also pointed out (and I am guilty of both) the error in the common sayings: "The Lord won't put more on you than you can handle" and "don't pray for patience unless you want tribulation"

The scripture (which is being misquoted for the first saying) is: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Cor 10:13)- In other words, the Lord gives you a way to "escape" the temptation so that you "can handle it".

The scripture regarding the second saying is: And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience (Rom 5:3)- Here Brother Tim pointed out, that the scripture does not say that tribulation "brings" patience, it works, or exercises patience that you already have...


I have to correct my though pattern on these two issues- becuase I have been guilty of saying both!


After services, since it was so hot, no one stuck around to fellowship, but some of us went to mom and dad's (AKA- Borrowed Dad/Borrowed Poppa) to sing and fellowship. This is where I found out that Bethany doesn't read my blog :( BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE PICTURES... well here you go Beff... here's some pictures for you!



Saturday morning services greeted us with electricity once again, however, no A/C still... NO PROBLEM, Satan can try all he wants to disturb us, but we weren't going to have it... Brother Tim preached another outstanding sermon. He started out by saying that he was always taught and has tried to teach his children the concept of "leave it better than you found it". This was a lesson that I completely identified with... mom and dad (and the Girl Scouts) taught us this same thing growing up, especially in the girl scouts... when you go camping, you leave the camp ground in better shape than it was when you got there... the same as when you visited people's home.... well, Brother Tim took this concept of "Leave it better than when you found it" and showed how the Lord, in every experience in his ministry here on earth, left things better than how he found it (in all his healings, and miracles etc.) and further went on to explain, that when we serve others we ourselves can go from bad to better (even if not appreciated by those whom we are serving).


Unfortunately, Brother Tim had to leave after lunch, but thankfully Brother Chris Taylor agreed to preach the afternoon service... We even made room on the sign for him!


He preached an interesting sermon about tears... One of the things he brought up was the verse: Jesus wept... Jim and I have often talked about this same thing, and Brother Chris talked about it too... Why did Jesus weep? Was it becuase of the death of Lazarus? Was it becuase of the lack of faith that Martha and Mary had? (this last one is what Jim and I think) or was it because he (Jesus) had to bring Lazarus out of the presence of God (in eternal glory) to come back to this sin-cursed earth where he would remain until he died (again). While we shed tears at funerals, it is for the one's who remain, not for the one's who have gone on to be with the Lord... becuase they have it far better than us who still have to endure this world.


Saturday night we had our communion service. I am always so thankful for this service. I never feel worthy to be in this service, I feel like I fail in my service to the Lord daily, yet becuase of what he did on the cross and because of God's mercy, I am able to partake in this solemn service. It always ends in joyful, thankful tears and I go away rejoicing!


Finally, we ended the weekend with our Sunday morning worship. Brother Buddy spoke on "Our Advesary Part 5" and went through the second temptation that Satan presented to Jesus:


(Matthew 4:5)Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.


We have learned in the past that Satan will misquote scriptures (adding or taking away words) but here, he mis-interpreted or rather mis-applied a scripture that he quoted correctly. We can test these "temptations" by looking at whether or not other scriptures contradict the interpretation... Brother Buddy specifically focused on a very common mis-application of "salvation". When the scripture says "Save yourself" or "work out your own salvation" we have to understand that, if this were eternal salvation (or an eternal saving) it would contradict scriptures that say we have no part in our salvation, so obviously you have to question "Save from what?" If it is a saving from hell to heaven or a saving from eternal damnation to life everlasting, then it is not of our works, but that of the work on the cross. But if it is a salvation in this life (i.e. from this untoward generation) then we do have hand in that salvation.


All in all, the sermons of the weekend were edifying and I am thankful to have been with all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Random photos from the weekend

Songs of Zion

For those of you who know me, even if only a little, you probably know that I love to sing... (yes we've covered the weirdness of my singing kids songs although no kids are around). But I especially love to sing the songs of Zion. We are very blessed at Little Union to have a good song service each Sunday morning. And I almost always find myself humming or whistling or singing a hymn that pops into my head. Mostly I will hear a word that triggers my thoughts to a particular song and then that song will be stuck in my head for hours (sometimes days on end) and then come Sunday, I can't for the life of me think of the song to call it out... (GRRR!)

I was talking with someone that shared a story behind a hymn that means a lot to them and turns out is now their daughter's very most favorite song. And it led me to think about some songs that have special meaning to me and why.

When I was out of the church for the 3 LONELY HORRIBLE years, I returned with the thought that I just didn't deserve God's mercy... I can remember tears streaming just about every Sunday morning listening (and trying to sing) the song "Show Pity Lord"- Not that the meaning of the song has changed for me, I sure don't feel worthy of God's mercy, but I can now sing the song without crying (although I do get a knot in my throat almost every time).

There is also a special meaning to me with the song "Be Thou My Vision". When Jim and I were blessed to meet and eventually started dating, neither one of us had ever put the Lord first in any of our past relationships. This was the first one for both of us. From the minute we started dating, we always wanted to keep the Lord as our vision and as we stood together before God and our church professing our love and devotion for one another and for the the Lord, we only thought it appropriate to sing that song with our church family!

I am thankful to the Lord for these songs, and for the many other songs that we have to keep me sane during the week and keep my mind at peace at night! If I could never physically sing a note again, I will always have the words and melodies in my heart!

I would love to hear from any of you that read my blog if there is a song(s) that has special meaning to you and why!

Willingly Ignorant

Brother Buddy recently started an expository and in-depth study on the 6 days of creation. Last night, as we learned about day 5 and the first part of day 6, Brother Buddy went into further depth of the term "After their kind" (also seen as "After his kind"). He pointed out that in the 6 days, the phrase was used 8 times (once referring to the plants/herb/grass and seven times referring to the sea and land animals as well as the fowl of the air. I have always been taught that if the Lord says something once, it's important, but if it is repeated two or more times, it is REALLY important. Brother Buddy then read several excerpts from a book that was published, I believe he said, in 1983. Below is one of the things he read that I thought was mind boggeling:

As Dr. George Wald, winner of the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize in Science has written:

• "When it comes to the origin of life on this earth, there are only two possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation (evolution). There is no third way. Spontaneous generation was disproved 100 years ago, but that leads us only to one other conclusion: that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds (personal reasons); therefore, we choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance."

As Brother Buddy went on to read more, he brought to our attention the scripture in 2 Peter 3:5~For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Brother Buddy also pointed out to us (and has mentioned in the previous sermons as well) the as scripture in Hebrews 11:3~Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

It is through faith that we read these things in the Bible about creation and believe it to be so. (Brother Ronald always says in reference to the popular bumper sticker that says "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it"~ "God said it, and that settles it, whether I believe it or not!")

I can't express how much I have enjoyed this study that Brother Buddy has been doing with us. I used to always read/rush right through the first chapter in Genesis because I just accepted those things to be true. But to hear it taught with such detail has made me consider the power of the Lord in creation (just like we were instructed to do at the Fellowship Meeting).

If anyone is interested in receiving the recordings of this study that Brother Buddy is doing, please let me know I can have Jim email you the sermons (if you have high speed) or we can mail you the cd's (if you have dial up). I would highly recommend it especially if you have school age children that are being taught evolution in school. This really helps to clear things up!

God Bless!

Prayer Request

Dear Blogger Family,

It is a sad day for Little Union PBC as we have lost a dear sweet deacon. Brother Ray Carlton went home to be with the Lord this morning and we are all mourning the loss of this faithful soldier! Brother Ray has been ill for some time now and unable to attend church. While we are thankful that he is no longer suffering, we will greatly miss his presence.

One of my favorite stories of Brother Ray happened not too long ago. With his age, he was always having a terrible time hearing (especially sermons from the pulpit). At Little Union, we have hearing impared equipment that works like a walkman (you can put the headphone on and it amplifies the sermon- plus everything else with in ear shot). We had Elder David Gutterie visiting one weekend (for those of you who have not had the pleasure of hearing Brother David- he is very zealous and needs no microphone!). After services Brother Ray approached Jim (he handles the sound for the church meetings) and said that that was the first sermon he's heard in years! Jim and I still laugh about that today! Not only did Brother Ray not have to use the headphones, but Jim even had the microphone turned off and Brother Ray still was able to hear!

He loved the Lord, and loved the church and serving his Brothers and Sisters and was a good example for us all! Please pray for his dear wife Sister Ruth and for the rest of his family!

Thank you to all!

Foregiveness

He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?
Micah 6:8

We have heard several dissertations at Little Union in the past on this scripture, and more particularly the part about loving mercy and how we all love to "get" mercy, but some of us can be a little stingy when it comes to "giving" mercy.

For whatever reason, the thought of mercy and foregiveness weigh heavy on my mind constantly. Brother Lonnie Mozingo, Jr. brought about a point in one of his sermons at the Florida Fellowship Meeting that when Jesus was on the cross, Satan thought he was on the brink of gaining all the control... and then all of a sudden, Jesus says "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" and (as Brother Lonnie said) Satan was completely blind-sided and was saying, "Forgive them? Forgive them? That's not what you were supposed to say"

I started thinking, why is it so hard for people to forgive? Is it because we are so "self-involved" that we think we deserve the right to be angry (or sometimes we think we deserve an apology)? Brother Lonnie even used the example of road rage saying: when we cut someone off by mistake, we expect them to be patient with us and know that it was a mistake. How often though, do we react negatively toward someone who has just cut us off? I am guilty of this myself. While I don't cuss or wag my finger at them, sometimes I make sure I "LOOK" at them if I pass them... you know, to make sure they know that I saw what they did. I even will sarcastically say out loud, "Hooray for you, you made it to the red light first!" Do I ever stop to think that it was a mistake?

What about a brother or sister in the church that has done something to offend you? (and I am talking a minor, non-doctrinal offense) The bible says that if your brother offend you, that you are to go to him... but is it at all possible, just to get over it? If we were all able to put others before ourself, wouldn't it stand to reason that our concern would no longer be about what happened to "us" but rather what can we do for "them"?

I've seen so much bitterness in my life, and I can assure you... it is a cancer, that eats away at the body! I've witnessed physical infirmity as a direct result in bottling up anger. I've seen plenty of heartache and sadness over loss of friends due to their inability to forgive! Does Satan see this as a weekness in our lives so he is preying on it? What was it that the one comedian said? "Can't we all just get along?"

Our Father in Heaven, forgave us when we were "unforgiveable". He didn't wait until we apologized to him. He forgave us for Christ's sake. We should be able to do the same! My prayer is that we can be a people who love the Lord and love one another so much that foregiveness and mercy just flows through us toward one another.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32

Consider This

As many of you know, we were blessed to enjoy many wonderful messages this past weekend at the 2008 Central Florida Fellowship Meeting. There isn't enough time or space on my blog to write about every single message however there were two in particular that I would like to comment on at this time.

Elder Doug Meeks from IN spoke on the word "Consider" which he defined as "to study or reflect on a matter". Several of the points he brought out is that we are instructed in the Bible to consider the greatness of God in creation~ Psalm 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained
We are also instructed to consider the faithfulness of God~ Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds
We are to consider the blessings of God~Isaiah 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider
We are to consider the church~Psalm 48:12-13 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.
One of my favorites is that we are to consider one another~ Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works
And finally we were instructed to consider ourselves (lest we be also be tempted) Galations 6:1

I was shocked to see when I did a word search on BibleGateway.com that this word consider is used 97 times in Bible. I look forward to searching more on this word and learning what else I should be reflecting on!

The other message I wish to comment on was from Elder Dolph Painter from GA. The first part of his sermon, he spoke about Moses and how, as an infant, he was a beneficiary (reciever) of faith from his parents (Hebrews 11:23) and how at the end of his life he became a benefactor (bestower) of faith to the children of Israel by stepping into the Red Sea (Hebrews 11:29). The second part of his sermon was regarding Mark's account of the Parable of The Sower. As most ministers would say, the Parable of the Sower is about 4 Ground Types (the wayside, the thorny ground, the stoney ground, and the good ground)... however, Brother Dolph took it a step further by stating within the good ground there are three ground types (so essentially he said all together there were 6 ground types). Within the good ground, there were those that brought forth "some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred" I had never considered that before. I know that these ground types can represent different times in our life. And I can think of my experience with the stoney ground and the thorney ground, and perhaps even the wayside, but when I think about the good ground, have I brought forth "some thirty"? What about "some sixty"? And do I dare even consider "some an hundred"? It says that some brought forth this amount, so it obviously is possible... Boy do I sure have a lot to work torward. I hope that I can serve the Lord and produce fruit worthy of that hundred mark.

As I said earlier, there were so many blessed sermons. My hubby is producing all the recordings of the weekend. If any of you wish to receive cassette, cd or MP3 recordings of the meeting, please let us know by email (kaustin14325@yahoo.com) and we will make sure to get a copy to you. Please be sure to include a mailing address in the email)

The other messages preached were:
Elder John Yadamec: Perspective of man vs. Perspective of God
Elder Doug Meeks: "Consider"
Elder JC Stanaland: Environment in which the early church prospered
Elder Mike Green: How many will be in Heaven?
Elder Lonnie Mozingo Jr.: Being subject/obedient to civil authority
Elder Daniel Woods: Good in HIS sight
Elder Dolph Painter: Doctrine of Circumcision
Elder Charles Kitchens: The word of God is for God's children
Elder JC Stanaland: Men in the Bible who did not persevere
Elder Dolph Painter: Six Ground Types (Parable of the Sower)
Elder Lonnie Mozingo Jr.: God the Gardener
Elder John Yadamec: Godly habits vs. Rituals
Elder Charles Kitchens: The New Creature
Elder Daniel Wood: Christ~ the husband of one bride
Elder Doug Meeks: The New Birth
Elder Doug Meeks: God is not mocked (Reap what you sow)

Make A Joyful Noise

Captured by Jim and his awesome camera phone...

Is it the mere innocence of the young child, or are we possibly on the road to a new/former trend where our youth is interested in the songs of Zion?
Jim had a former co-worker who, when instructed to raise his new infant under the songs of Zion replied that he planned on raising him under the songs of Zeppelin. As I roll my eyes about that story, I realize, that more and more, the ones in my generation and younger are exposed to this trend, that the songs and "amenities" this world has to offer are far more important to them than the songs of Zion. It's pictures like this one that warm my heart to think that maybe, just maybe, the next generation will be different. Maybe this young group will continue to desire to sing the precious hymns in our sanctuary. As they sing "Trust and Obey", I think that maybe they'll hear the words, and strive to serve the Lord in obedience throughout their lives. I know, as Danielle recently pointed out in her blog, that the world is waxing worse and worse, and the odds are stacked against them, but Lord help them (and us- whether we are parents or Aunts/Uncles or elder sisters or brethren in the church) to overcome the world's temptations!

NEW YEAR'S DAY

Happy New Year!


What a wonderful way to start out 2008. Jim and I attended our church's annual New Year's Eve service and sing. Brother Buddy preached a powerful message about the abomination of two political issues that will not be on the upcoming political agenda: Abortion and Homosexuality. I have always known that abortion is wrong although, I don't think I could have backed up my belief scripturally (except by saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill") but Brother Buddy showed the parallel in the one's that were sacrificing the children to the false god, Molech, to that of abortion... I am very thankful for the teachings that we have been receiving. After the sermon, we broke for refreshments, which, any PB knows, refreshments = Sunday potluck= Yumm-o. And afterwards, we wore Brother Gary out with our song selections to ring in the New Year...



Then today, we had our annual picnic at the church... and let me just tell you, you will never find competition so fierce than of those at Little Union :) While I did not participate in the "Water Fight" that apparently broke out prior to my arrival, I was almost included in the "Revenge" because of my "guilt-by-association" If you would like details of the "Whole Story" talk to Danielle! :)



I learned a couple of new card games today. Me and Brother Gary couldn't remember the real name of one, so we kept calling it Egyptian Rat Trap (it was described as "Egyptian War") and let me tell you, it was down to me and Brother Gary and two decks of cards... and I am not exaggerating when I say it was intense! I even had my own cheerleading section... BUT much to my dismay, Brother Gary BEAT ME! Fair and Square! Good Game Brother Gary! You were a worthy opponent! (LOL). I also learned a sad truth that in the game of Bull... Sister Danielle is a compulsive liar! (big wink to Danielle) You would never believe that church members could be such good liars in a game where you are "allowed" to lie (as long as you don't get caught). For that fact, you would never believe that church members know how to play a game that involves lying (haha)


All in all, it was a great start to the New Year! We had good worship, good fellowship (and of course good food) :)


Hope you all have a great 2008 ~